FYI Newsletter

Fall, Flourish, and Grow in Gratitude

As the season turns, this edition of FYI celebrates the people who give us so much to be grateful for. From an ICU nurse who stepped in while off duty to help save a stranger’s life, to a Cancer Center team that treats every patient like family, these stories and the others featured in this edition show what it means to lead with skill and heart. Thank you for all you do, every day.

Off duty, on call: ICU nurse helps save a life at the CrossFit Games

Riley Cannon, RN, went to the CrossFit Games in San Jose to cheer on the world’s top athletes. She never expected to spend that Saturday morning helping bring a stranger back to life.

In late July, just outside the SAP Center, 76-year-old Jim Martin collapsed in cardiac arrest. While others hesitated, Riley moved toward him. The ICU nurse at Northbay Medical Center in Fairfield pushed through the crowd and found no pulse. Bystanders thought his gasping meant he was breathing. Riley knew better.

Alongside her friend Theresa Watkins, a firefighter/engineer and paramedic with the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, she started CPR right away. Together they delivered a shock with an AED and kept going until Jim began breathing on his own. Riley could hear his wife crying nearby, and that kept her focused. “I don’t care how scared I am,” she remembers thinking. “We need to get him back.”

By the time first responders arrived, Jim was awake and alert.

Riley wasn’t on shift. No one asked her to step in. She simply showed up for someone who needed her, did the right thing and didn’t stop until the job was done. That’s who she is, and it’s who we are at our best.

Riley, thank you. You make all of us at Northbay Health proud.